Thursday, November 13, 2008

X-mas in Hong Kong



In certain areas I try to be a little traditional or develop a kind of tradition. One of my new "traditions" is to stay in Hong Kong during the x-mas holidays. To be honest I do like the idea to meet up with some friends and enjoy the days off together. Hong Kong is a perfect place to do so as the climate is kind of cold, but you are still in an asian metropolis. Even so you are not able to join every year the x-mas trip to Hong Kong the city has enough on offer during the whole year.
Places to stay:
In most cities around the globe I do have "my place" where I use to stay always, but I try to give you an idea what is on offer, which mainly depends on your budget. My favorite place in Hong Kong is Langham Place- this is a 5 star skyscraper hotel located in bustling Mongkok district. Mongkok is more "traditional" than the tourist areas around the harbour front and trust me, you will have excellent views from the 36th floor on all over Hong Kong.

If you wanna indulge yourself go for the Mandarin Oriental- you can't do anything wrong besides paying a certain amount of HKD. For Design oriented guys I would recommend the Jia by famous Phillipe Starck. If you are on a shoestring go for
Chungking Mansions on Nathan Road. This is kind of an institution in Hong Kong- great location but dirt cheap!

Nightlife:
Besides x-mas eve, where you might stay with your friends in your hotel room and let the room service prepare the late night supper and a bottle of wine, Hong Kong is an amazing place to go out for dinner or just to a bar.
If you are looking for a place with a view I would recommend Aqua Restaurant Roma/ Spirit on 30th floor located in One Peking Road in Tsim Sha Tsui. Even if you don't wanna spent so much money for dinner- simply go there and enjoy the view with a drink in the bar, which is well worth the HKD. Another cheap option to have a nice view is to pee somewhere.
Best toilet with an amazing view is still found in the well known restaurant Felix in the Peninsula hotel.
If you are looking for the James feeling check out a bottoms up bar, but I guess its not easy to find one nowadays. The entertainment district is on the "other side" in Lan Kwai Fong. Check out Yumla for dancing.
Sex:
I found this video online which is kind of a running gag in Hong Kong- but have a look by yourself.

The story behind is pretty funny, as a guy went to a park in Hong Kong at night and used one of the exercise machines for a kind of sexual workout. One of these workout machines look like a table with a hole in the middle. So it was late at night, nobody was around and he was horny. But the poor guy got to be stuck in the hole for about 4 hours before calling the police to rescue him. The rescue workers even pulled in a injection to pull him out- thats why the guy is crying and you can see the blood, but it doesn't work. So they had to buck the whole fitness table!
Transport:
Public transport is easy to use, cheap, fast and reliable. Do buy a rechargeable Octopus Card to pay for your rides on boat, mrt, bus, tram and even for your grab and go stuff at 7 Eleven. To and from the airport use the very fast and comfortable Airport Express Train.

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